by The Stag Arms’ Board of Directors announced that they plan to relocate the company out of New Britain, CT. The new location has not been finalized yet.
The full text of the announcement was posted on Facebook:
Today, Stag Arms announced that its Board of Directors has decided to relocate the company from its current facility in New Britain, CT, as part of its strategic initiative to significantly improve the overall customer experience. The location of Stag’s new headquarters has not been finalized but the Board has narrowed down the options to a short list of vibrant communities where there is significant support for the firearms industry.
Stag Arms President, Anthony Ash, stated: “Not since the founding of our Company in 2003 have there been so many great things happening at once. We began our journey with a commitment to bring customers innovative products with uncompromising quality through 100% American Made components. We pioneered the left-handed Modern Sporting Rifle and from Day 1 we have backed all of our rifles with Infinite Shot Barrel and Lifetime Transferable Warranties. Our recent release of our newest product line of PXCs, Stag’s innovative multiple pistol caliber AR, continues the tradition.”
Mr. Ash further stated, “Stag is creating a seamless, integrated value chain that will incorporate best practices from design and engineering, to manufacturing, omni-channel customer engagement, fulfillment, and service. The pieces are in place and we are ready to transition production and fulfillment operations immediately from a narrow facility-based approach in New Britain to a distributed eco-system.”
The Board expects to finalize the location of the headquarters in the next few months and the company then will begin the process of relocating sales and remaining back office functions to the new headquarters location.
Back in 2013 Stag almost moved to either Houston or Myrtle Beach, SC. Then company CEO Mark Malkowski made the decision to remain in Connecticut due to expense involved with the move. You may also remember that PTR Industries left the same area of Connecticut about that time for Aynor, SC.
Ownership of Stag Arms changed hands in 2016 due to running afoul of BATFE regulations. Malkowski and Stag pleaded guilty to charges involving unregistered machine guns. As part of the plea deal, Malkowski was forced to sell the company and was banned from the industry. White Wolf Capital bought Stag Arms and added it to their portfolio which also included Ballistic Advantage, VG6 Precision, and Aero-Precision.
New Britain town officials were not surprised by the announcement.
New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart said the announcement “comes as no surprise.”
“We have known for many years that Stag has been courted by other states following the passage of more stringent gun laws here in Connecticut,” she said in an emailed statement. “Quite frankly, I’m surprised it took this long.”
While none of the potential locations have been named, I’m going out on a limb here and saying it won’t be Tacoma, Washington which is the home of Aero-Precision given the recent changes in Washington State gun laws. More likely, is a relocation nearer to Ballistic Advantage which is in a suburb of Orlando, FL.
It would be cool to see them move into the Orlando area. Back in '10 or '11, Colt was going to move into Kissimmee, on the south side of Orlando (closer to Disney World). I never heard that they completed that move; the last I heard was the county telling the to do something back in 2015. Ballistic Advantage is on the north side of the city, about an hour's drive from Kissimmee.